Owls Win Wild One

Glendora, CA (Men's Soccer) -- Sophomore Anier Valdez scored a hat trick, and the Citrus College Men's Soccer team matched a program record for goals in a game on Friday afternoon in their 5-4 win over Santa Monica College. The nine goals in the contest was also the most goals scored in a game involving Citrus since 2010.

The Owls jumped out early when sophomore Anier Valdez scored goals in the 11th and 14th minutes to give Citrus a 2-0 lead. Santa Monica would cut the lead in half in the 23rd minute, but Citrus extended their lead back to two goals in the 39th minute when sophomore Matt Marbach headed home a ball for the Owls to make it 3-1.

Right before the half Santa Monica sliced it back down to one when they scored in the 42nd minute to make it just a 3-2 lead for Citrus. The first half saw the Owls dominate the ball as they outshot the Corsairs 11-4. Citrus also took five corners in the first 45, compared to just one for Santa Monica.

In the second half, Santa Monica seemed to turn the tides. The Corsairs became the aggressors on the offensive side of the ball, reversing the first half completely by outshooting Citrus 11-4. Santa Monica also earned three corners, while Citrus got just one more the rest of the game.

Despite the seeming change of momentum in the game, the Owls were able to take advantage of Citrus errors when freshman Ryo Takamine made it 4-2 Citrus in the 56th minute. Santa Monica answered quickly with a goal in the 57th minute, and even tied the game up in the 60th minute 4-4.

After seeing their lead slip, Citrus continued to bide their time and wait for the right moment to try and go back on top. That time came in the 72nd minute when Valdez scored the final goal of the hat trick when he put Citrus up for good 5-4.

With the win, Citrus improves to 3-5-3 overall and 2-3-2 in Western State Conference play. Citrus will wrap up the first half of WSC play on Tuesday when they travel to Glendale College for a 7:00 PM kick-off.